Rating: 
Summary: An Enlightening, Entertaining Page-turner.
Review: I loved this book. It didn't read like you would expect an autobiography to. As a white woman, I obtained an insight into the black womans' experience and how it differs from my own. It was entertaining, educational, and well written
Rating:
Summary: What A Lady!
Review: I read the last sentence and smiled, wow, what a lady. It is nearly impossible to believe that a person can live through such adversity and rise above it all. . . . then again, that's been the story of African American people since our captivity and subsequent slavery in the United States. Where did Maya get the strength to continue on, I asked myself, then I recalled my mothers struggle. . . continued struggle and I know that is through strong will, determination, and the all out grace of God that we are able to move forward in the face of such adversity. How fortunate Maya was to have been able to see the Motherland and come to know the struggles of the people of Africa while knowing and have experienced the struggle of African Americans. Maya did an excellent job of identifying how the two struggles were different, and yet the same. When I finished this book I felt, uplifted (I actually reread a copy of "And Still I Rise"), rejuvenated, exonerated,! ! educated, emancipated, knowing that here lives a African American who continues to rise . . . . and so shall I. Thank You Maya.
Rating: 
Summary: Her reputation is clearly extra-literary
Review: I'm at a loss as to what to make of this pastiche. Maya has taken a narrow slice of her life and seems to have described events and states of mind at random, without regard for coherence or continuity. She starts out with a gossipy bit on Billie Holiday, then jumps to her first experience of a writing group, and is all over the map from there on. The worst thing of all is her lack of a critical perspective on her life. These events happened over thirty years ago but Maya has made no attempt to place them in a larger context, analyze what she felt at the time as compared to what she feels now; in short, she has a disregard for history. These are really rambling vignettes, and her views on literature and race are embarassingly naive, even for the times. Her opinion of the literary value of the Genet play fluctuates according to whether she's had a good or bad encounter with a white person! Unbelievable. She also makes gross generalizations about African men, black American men, teachers, sons and lovers, and everyone under the sun. These type of generalizations are what you'd expect to find in a diary, not a piece of published writing. Does she have an editor? Does she think that her off-the-cuff opinions are really worth anyone's time? I only was able to keep reading because I was laughing so hard. Good for a laugh, unless you're a struggling writer. You'll be kicking the walls, trying to understand how this got published and your work doesn't.
Rating:
Summary: I'm a woman and she helped me understand myself
Review: In this world, where woman are taught that they are less than a man, and grow up feeling unworthy,
this book is manidtory reading. Maya shows us what is in our own hearts. She shows us our strength,
our importance and our purpose. Somehow, through her words, she gives "love" form.
Rating:
Summary: This is a book for all women, truely written from the heart
Review: Maya Angelou has set an example to all women. Reading this book is like listening to the richness of Maya's voice. It is full of wonder and yet struggle and survival of a woman so strong and yet volunerable but full of strength. Maya leads us by the hand through her world with a grace and style that only she can do. I loved this book and is one that I will share with it with all my women friends and family. It should be a "must" for reading by all women
Rating: 
Summary: You never know what's in a woman's heart
Review: Maya Angelou impresses me. What a life! So many lives at the same: it's crazy. I've just watched a movie (featuring Wesley Snipes) that she has recently directed and which reminded of the kind of woman that I thought she was when I read her "Heart": compassionate, human... Reading Angelou made me aware of what it is was to be a woman and a mother in America. I've read about fictional characters that had comparable difficulties and faced them with astonishing courage and endurance, but reading Maya made it more real for me. Doing that while one has so many commitments at the same time certainly compels admiration. Words are inadequate to express how I felt to enter the heart of a woman that has so many experiences to share and read a book that is so simply and yet masterfully written. In this review, I didn't want to be academic and all (commenting on the themes, the syntax, the structure, etc.). I just wanted to communicated what Maya's heart has put in my heart. Go for it, it's humanizing and worth-reading.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book showing the flexibility of the human spirit.
Review: Maya Angelou shows that the human spirit is flexible, and survival is the key and in her story she portrays what persistence and determination are all about. She shows that these two characteristics are omnipotent for conquering all adversity in the world...that one can rise above any situation with courage.
Rating:
Summary: Maintaining Faith Even Through the Hardest Obstacles
Review: Maya Angelou's "The Heart of A Woman" is written with grace and delicacy. In it Maya undergoes many obstacles as a mother, friend, fiance and leader. Guy, her teenage son faces peer pressure and gets involved with the violence on the street. As a result, Maya baffles with separating work and catering to her fatherless son. The help from many friends like, John Killens, help Angelou to maintain faith. Also, Maya's dedication to the civil rights movements during the mid' twentieth century is a pure example of her being an organized and charismatic person. Maya is a woman who has fulfilled the scripture "faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains". What I admire the most is that a lot of the work Maya was handling was volunteer, so as a result she was not getting paid, which meant she was finding other means of survival. It takes a determined person to succeed. Despite of the many tribulations Angelou underwent, she persevered. From Maya I have learned that a leader is caring, devoted and brave.
Rating:
Summary: Autobiographical . . .
Review: Maya has led an interesting life! I found this more autobiographical than I'd expected, but her life experience is very entertaining. . . especially her encounter with Billie Holliday. She views her life with such joy and appears to learn from the wrong as well the positive turns that she encounters. This is a good first-read for someone not familiar w/ Maya Angelou's writing.
Rating:
Summary: This book coaxes the inner wisdom in all of us, to come out.
Review: Maya's continuing story, helps me to realize that although life may be happening all around us, we all have inner strengths. If we deal with life as we see it, and not allow others projections of how they would like our lives to be, infect us...then we have no choice but to grow. I liked the references to the real life people who worked towards change, and I liked the descriptions of their character, and what made them unique, yet sometimes foolish. Maya's writing flows so well, it's easy to get swept away and find yourself polishing off this book in one setting.
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